Yer, I think Belgium has most recently been thought of as a good side, a strong side with good players.
He has been involved, in and around or training with the international set up from a young age.
That stands him in good stead and shows he clearly has something about him.
As I said, I like him, hes new and young and needs to settle in but with time I think he will show us what he can do.
Pretty much, very easy to see detect top level promise in young midfielders generally, it doesn’t matter what county or league they played in before
Most people acknowledge ASL has a very good technical level but other areas are lacking for a club of this stature and a player of his age. Much more interesting CM prospects out there worth investing game time in
Struggling to see what Thierry and Kompany see in Bambi.
Seen a lot of praise him and some say he is the answer to our #8 issues btw. He had the 3rd most goal involvements in our team during preseason(incl. the behind closed door ones).
I’m not particularly convinced myself and I’ve found both Elneny and AMN better than him in these games which isn’t a great indicator for me.
The “answer” to our #8 issues is pretty clearly some combination of Xhaka, Vieira, and maybe Smith-Rowe. I cannot see a world in which Sambi becomes the answer at that position this season.
But I think Sambi acquitted himself pretty well in pre-season all things considered so I can definitely see him getting some EL or garbage time minutes at the 8. Whether he can grow into Xhaka’s replacement or with time still have a future as Partey’s heir I don’t know. But playing left 8 in less important matches at least will give him the ability to get on the pitch and get minutes under his belt in a less pressure-filled role than throwing him on as the 6 in bad situations like last year.
Arteta needs to decide whether Sambi can be trusted in the PL at this stage in his career and, if not, loan him out and find another CM who can cover 6 and 8.
I really like the guy and want it to work out but we need to be cut throat here. He’s good enough or he isn’t right now.
Kid said he embraces the competition if a new midfielder comes in, I guess we’ll see.
My ideal scenario is another midfielder coming in so we have at least 6 choices for 3 positions with Elneny, Partey, Xhaka, new MF, Fabio and Martin,
ESR and Zinchenko could provide cover there in case of an emergency.
You can then ship out Lokonga to have a full season elsewhere. Lokonga can then come back a bit more refined and experienced next summer, Xhaka finally fucking off with Lokonga taking his place in the team.
Agreed. Or maybe Lokonga comes back and takes Elneny’s place in the team next summer.
I hear Marseille is a nice place. Always treat their loanees with respect.
We need a big squad. Don’t loan him.
He has to accept he’s not a first team player at the moment. Fight for his chances. With Europe and domestic cups I think he’ll get enough gametime.
Bambi needs a confidence injection. He clearly has the tools to be a good player.
Surely not? Is this guy credible?
Lokonga needs a loan. Need to go to OM tbh
Who can leave Arsenal? Doubt it.
Only in a swap deal with Tonali maybe.
@GC-Maniac what’s this guy’s Tier level?
TuttoMercatoWeb Chief Editor so Tier Bullshit.
For the sake of a discussion though, I would be all for Lokonga to leave, but not on a permanent basis unless the offer was too good to resist.
Tonali Lokonga swap deal would work for us, but anything else is a no-go. They’re never going to offer nearly enough cash to make it worth our while selling
We’d have to give them like €60m on top of Lokonga lol. Tonali is worlds ahead of him
Tonali is worth SMS + Lokonga?
Appreciate its not necessarily what he’s worth but what they’d sell for, still…